Edward Saganami B class
The Edward Saganami-''B'' class was a Manticoran class of heavy cruisers. ( ) Class Design General The Edward Saganami-''B'' class warships were the heaviest vessels of their type constructed and operated by the Royal Manticoran Navy until the introduction of their successors, the ''Edward Saganami''-''C''-class. Like the other modern designs being introduced by the RMN in the latter years of the First Havenite-Manticoran War and the intervening five years of the cease fire before the Second Havenite-Manticoran War, the class made extensive use of automation to reduce manning requirements, making it easier to man large numbers of them instead of the more labor-intensive older designs such as the ''Star Knight''-, ''Crusader''-, and ''Prince Consort'' classes. Because of that automation, ships of the Edward Saganami-''B'' class had a complement of 385. Armaments While the warships of the Edward Saganami-''B'' class mounted more missile tubes than their successors, the missile tubes mounted on them were smaller and incapable of handling the heavier Mark 16 dual-drive missile that in later years served as the standard shipboard impeller drive missile for RMN heavy cruisers and battlecruisers. Instead, the Edward Saganami-''B''s were armed with the Mark 14 extended time single drive missile with 19 tubes in each broadside, in addition, the Edward Saganami-B design retained two of the three missile tubes in each chaser found in the Edward Saganami-A design (the third was replaced by a graser). The tubes on the Edward Saganami-''B''s were capable of the same off-bore targeting retained on the later Edward Saganami-''C''s.However, the Edward Saganami-B-class only supported enough fire-control links to control 18 missiles at a time from its forward control links. The Edward Saganami-B class also mounted ten grasers in each broadside. The energy weapons layout in each chase bay was three grasers. ( ). Defense Like all other warships in the Post Diaspora era, the Edward Saganami-''B''-class mounted sidewalls for passive defense. They were also equipped with both bow and stern walls as well. Both the bow and stern walls were traditional sidewalls, however, and using them made it impossible for the vessel to accelerate using its impeller wedge, and only one could be up at a time. Construction Notes Although the Saganami-B class constituted an entirely new class by itself, the class nonetheless received its designation as a 'revised' version of the ''Edward Saganami''-class in order to hide its development from the Second Janacek Admiralty as Janacek was opposed to the construction of new warship classes in peace time. Specifically the class was a Flight II 'block upgrade'. Structurally, the Edward Saganami-''B'' possessed a new hullform, permitting the much heavier armament. History While the prominence of the Saganami-''B''-class was short-lived before its position as the RMN's most advanced heavy cruiser class was supplanted by the Edward Saganami-''C''-class, at least one of them distinguished itself in action. Noteable actions included the Battle of Tiberian and the Liberation of Torch. ( ) Three Saganami-B''s fought with great distinction in the Battle of Hypatia, although they were all destroyed. ( ) Known ships of the class *[[HMS Cinqueda|HMS ''Cinqueda]] *[[HMS Gauntlet|HMS Gauntlet]] *[[HMS Jennifer Woodward|HMS Jennifer Woodward]] *[[HMS Margaret Mallory|HMS Margaret Mallory]] *[[HMS Oliver Savander|HMS Oliver Savander]] *[[HMS Rich Ruscholka|HMS Rich Ruscholka]] *[[HMS Shelly Ann Jensen|HMS Shelly Ann Jensen]] *[[HMS Shikomizue|HMS Shikomizue]] *[[HMS Talwar|HMS Talwar]] *[[HMS William S. Patterson|HMS William S. Patterson]] References Category:Ship Classes Category:Manticoran Ship Classes Category:Heavy Cruiser Classes Category:Manticoran Heavy Cruiser Classes